Vehicle heaters, which are used, for example, as auxiliary heaters or parking heaters in vehicles, are designed, in general, such that the feeding of combustion air to a combustion chamber assembly unit is provided through or with a first housing arrangement. For example, such a first housing arrangement is part of a combustion air blower or carries such a combustion air blower and can be designed to define a combustion air flow space. The heat of combustion generated in the combustion chamber assembly unit during the combustion operation is transported in combustion waste gases and transmitted to a heat carrier medium in the area of a second housing arrangement. The second housing arrangement can consequently be designed to provide essentially a heat exchanger arrangement, which is used, on the one hand, to guide the combustion waste gases in the direction of the waste gas outlet, and is used, on the other hand, to establish a heat transmission interaction between the combustion waste gases and the heat carrier medium. The two housing arrangements are connected with one another in an adjoining area. To obtain information on the operating state, especially the combustion operation, so-called flame sensors are known to be used in such vehicle heaters. These may be designed, for example, as temperature sensors and detect the temperature of gases flowing in the vehicle heater, generally of the combustion waste gases. Depending on the state of combustion or depending on whether combustion is taking place or not, such a temperature sensor or flame sensor sends a corresponding signal, which can be input into an actuating arrangement and analyzed there.